The Copper Country, in
Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula, is considered the Birthplace of Organized
Professional Ice Hockey and Home of the World's First All Professional Ice Hockey
Team!

This web site is dedicated to the First All Pro
Hockey Teams who formed the World's First Professional Hockey League in 1904.If
you have any photos, or memorabilia that could be photographed for this
website, or items that could be donated or loaned to
the Hockey Museum in the Dee Stadium, please contact
the webmaster.

The Portage Lake Professional Ice Hockey Team
started right here in the Copper Country in Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula
in 1902.
Then in 1904, the Portage Lakes organized the World's First Professional
Ice Hockey Inter-City League, it was called the International Hockey League.

Home ice for the Portage Lake team since 1902 has been the
Amphidrome; after a fire in 1927 it was rebuilt and called the New Amphidrome,
it was renamed the James R. "Dee" Ice Stadium when Michigan
Technological University acquired the building for their hockey team in 1943.
James R. Dee, was a local business man, who coordinated the financing for the
rebuilding of the ice rink after the 1927 fire in time for the next season. Dee
has been known as the Father of American Hockey for organizing some of the first
American hockey teams. The ice rink is located on the shore of
Portage Lake in Houghton, Michigan.

The Original Amphidrome 1902-1927:

Dates in the History of Local Hockey; this is on a wall in the museum in the "Dee"
ice rink in Houghton:

North Wall; "Birthplace of Professional Hockey" and
"Amateur Hockey":

View the 100 year
old hockey stick from the Portage Lake 1903-04 World's Championship Team in our museum:
The stick measures 42 inches from top to heel, with a 10 inch blade and is made of
one piece of wood.
There is burned-in lettering on this 100 year old stick:
One flat side of stick has team's names starting at the top of the stick:
"HERN / GIBSON / H. STUART / MORRISON / B. STUART / R. WESTCOTT / SHIELDS /
F. WESTCOTT / LINDER / DUGGAN // PORTAGE LAKE HOCKEY TEAM, CHAMPIONS OF AMERICA
/ AMPHIDROME. HOUGHTON MICH."

The other flat
side of the stick starting from bottom of the stick:
"PORTAGE LAKE HOCKEY CLUB 1903-4 /
COONEY SHIELDS [above this players name is an etching of a hockey
player with the PL logo on his jersey]
RILEY GIBBY HODDY BERTIE ERNIE COONEY FREDIE JOEY JIMMY WEBBY PATTY /
CHAMPIONS OF AMERICA 1903-4 / COLORS - GREEN and WHITE / WESTCOTT"

The top side of
the stick starting from bottom of the stick:
"OUR VICTIMS --_ ST. PAUL. ST. LOUIS. CAN. SOO. AM. SOO. KEYSTONES. P.A.C.
BANKERS. VICTORIAS OF -PITTSBURG. AND - WANDERER.S. -OF- MONTREAL -- **********

The bottom side of the stick starting from
bottom of the stick:
"PORTAGE. LAKE. HOCKEY. CLUB. CHAMPIONS - OF - THE - WORLD. 1904. -

This area,
located in the Western part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is known as the
"Copper Country" from its early Copper mining days.
By car, we are 6 hours from Chicago, 7 hours from Minneapolis, and 9 hours from
Detroit and 4 hours NE of Duluth.

The Copper Country, in Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula, is considered the
Birthplace of Organized Professional Hockey and Home of the World's First
Professional Hockey Team!

This
is truly a "Hockey Town" with teams of
all ages here in the Copper Country:

Copper
Country Junior Hockey (CCJHA)
is for boys and girls ages 5 to 17 years old (girls teams to age 19). There are
over 300 players in CCJHA programs including Developing Mites, Mites, Squirts,
PeeWee, Bantam, Midget and two all girls teams.Travel teams are formed along with C-L-K in the Midgets, Bantam, PeeWee,
Squirt, Mites and Girls divisions.CCJHA
uses two publicly owned ice rinks: the Houghton County Ice Arena in Hancock and
the Dee Stadium Ice Rink in Houghton. Both rinks are enclosed, have team locker
rooms with showers, concession stands and artificial ice.

Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw
C-L-KJunior Hockeyis for
boys and girls ages 5 to 17 years old.. There are over 300 players in C-L-K
programs including Developing Mites, Mites, Squirts, PeeWee, Bantam, and
Midgets.Travel teams are formed
along with the CCJHA in the Midgets, Bantam, PeeWee, Squirt, Mites divisions.C-L-K uses two publicly owned ice rinks: the Calumet Armory in Calumet
and the Bi-Centennial in Laurium. Both rinks are enclosed, have team locker
rooms with showers, concession stands and artificial ice.

There
is a Midget AAA Hockey Team called
the Ojibwa Eagles with home ice at the Michigan Tech University Student Ice Arena. They
were originally sponsored by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Ojibwa
Casino. Their official webpage is here, Ojibwa
Eagles.

There
are two Adult Hockey Teamsthat play here: the Portage
Lake Pioneers; their home ice is at the Dee Ice Arena, and the Calumet
Wolverines; their home ice is at the Calumet Armory, the Pioneers and the
Wolverines both compete regionally and nationally at the Adult Level. There are
also many inter-league Adult teams who compete locally year
around.